Do You Get Any Traffic From The Answerbox?

[RedBar]

In my widget trade I have lots of #1 & 2 SERPs results plus images, descriptions and links in Google's Answerbox yet they don't seem to drive any traffic whatsoever when checking my logs.

In fact I get a lot of referrals from Pinterest with people using my widget images from all over The Net, not my Pinterest site, the kind of generic Pinterest site when searching for something specific like ketword1 keyword2 keyword3

Is this normal, it seems a little crazy to me?

And another thing, how does one tell Google that an Answerbox result is incorrect, as in factually incorrrect? Not a matter of opinion, simply wrong.

[keyplyr]

How are you determining traffic originating from Google's Answer Box (or not?)

[RedBar]

That's the problem, I do not see any references in my logs from the Answerbox therefore is Google "masking" it or am I not getting any traffic whatsoever from the Answerbox even though I am the image/reference text/linked to site?

All I see referenced when I have checked from another machine clicking through the answerbox is that it's from Google to the referenced URL with "no referring link" and "keywords unavailable".

Do I need to assume that this is one of those questions to which I may not find out the answer because Google doesn't want us to know?

[keyplyr]

Seems to me, traffic coming specifically from a listing in the Answer Box (AB) would just carry the google.com referrer (or none at all) like any other organic SE visit, but then again, I never gave it much thought.

I have approx 5 or 6 AB listings, and right below them is the normal listing for that same page (but with less description of course.) The pages that made it into the AB always did well in the SERP.

I don't see an organic way to track referrals from search engines and differentiate from where on the SERP it came from, none that would be resource effective.

[EditorialGuy]

If your page is added to an answer box and its traffic shoots up, that's a pretty good indicator.

[engine]

If your page is added to an answer box and its traffic shoots up, that's a pretty good indicator.

Surely, traffic will only be up if people click through.

[EditorialGuy]

Surely, traffic will only be up if people click through.

And they do, if my experience is any guide.

Obviously, the click rate will vary with the query and the site: If someone just wants the population of North Dakota, an answer box can provide that, but for many queries, the answer box is a teaser for searchers who are open to or eager for more information. Let's say that the query is "bus fare in widgetville." The simple answer might be "$1.50," but if the answer box points to "How to ride buses in Widgetville," the person who's going to Widgetville and plans to ride buses has a good chance of clicking through.

[keyplyr]

The question remains... how do you know if the clicks are coming from the AB or the normal listing on that SERP.

There's also the unintended factor of incorrect matching. I've seen numerous examples of my snippets (answers) and images coupled with another site's link, and visa versa.

[MrSavage]

I know it's not politically correct to use this word, so I won't. Instead I'll use "R" and people can determine the word on their own.

It's R to talk about how the answer box bumps traffic. Captain Obvious anyone?

The fact of the matter is this. Most every time, the answer box content is from the #1 result. If it's not the #1 result, then why is Google sharing the content as the be-all-end-all? People might debate this but if you do, then you are suggesting the search is a failing product. If Google (AI) chooses content from result 3 and put it to #1 position in the answer box? So maybe it's just a question of what website is more scraper friendly. Which leads to a greater question of ethics. Left hand says site A is the best site, but Google's right hand instead chooses site B or site C as the answer box content. So now suddenly site B or site C becomes the global authority #1 result in the box?

But back to the original question, it's R to suggest that you get more traffic from a page that has you in the answer box vs. a page without an answer box. Duh, of course being in the answer box will bump traffic but it's no comparison to being a top search result on a page with no answer box. Webmasters lose out no matter how you slice it!

Aha, but apologists will point out that it's a win If you are the #2, #3, #4 trypical search result and get into that box. Congrats on circumventing the entire principle of the box. If it's in the box, it better be from the most trusted authority on the planet or what we're going to get is a bunch of brainwashed people thinking that the box is actually the best, most accurate and most authoritative source on the planet. Nope, likely it's a race to whoever is more scraper friendly. Which to me comes down to ethics.

I don't understand how there could be a debate on whether being at the top of a Google results page brings in more traffic. The only debate is how much traffic is being lost because of it.

[Leosghost]

Rausages ? Ridiculous ( Rediculous (sic )? , Rubbish ?..or speelchuker broken?

[RedBar]

@EG

And they do, if my experience is any guide.

So, how are you identiifying these "extra" AB visitors or have you had a general upwards trend and you have accounted the AB as being the source since you have "plenty" of AB quotes?

These days, seemingly, my specialist widgets are not searched for in enough volume to discernibly notice an extra increase in traffic for Google yet Pinterest is sending me loads that I can immediately identify.

Whilst I have never been a fan of Pinterest, these referrals are making me consider otherwise but having said that I very much doubt, maybe I am wrong, that architects and specifiers use Pinterest for their different projects.

Possibly they are simply watching current fashion widget trends?

[EditorialGuy]

The question remains... how do you know if the clicks are coming from the AB or the normal listing on that SERP.

It's a win for me either way, so if I rank no. 1 for a query and also have the answer box, I'm not going to obsess over which is sending the majority of traffic.

[JS_Harris]

Just wait until you realise it's rank 1, the answer box and the answer box image which is often not from the same site as the text/url in the answer box. Why Google does this, who knows, anyone clicking the image is confused to not find the text they saw next to it and vice versa.

As far as telling which is which, you can't, it's the same url repeated twice on the page with the same referrer. I'm sure there are some shennanigans you could try to help figure it out, like make the cannonical include a hashtag and wait until rank 1 updates but the answer box hasn't and compare the two... but there's nothing to gain in doing so.

[EditorialGuy]

As far as telling which is which, you can't,

Okay, but neither can you tell that the answer box is taking away traffic from oppressed "Webmasters" (a claim that we hear in this forum again and again). That's just a supposition: there's no empirical proof.

What matters is that answer boxes are here to stay (and not just on Google). Some people are likely to benefit from them, and some probably won't, depending on the query, the searcher's intent, and whether a site can satisfy searchers who want more extensive information.